306 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



the adults of which are very abundant on the upper levels of 1 

 the mountain. 



REPRODUCTION IN THE EEL. 



The method by which re^Droduction is accomplished in the 

 eel has been for a long time one of the problems of zoolog- 

 ical science, and, although much attention has been directed 

 toward its solution, it is not until quite recently that any 

 thing like a satisfactory indication has been obtained. In- 

 deed, such has been the interest in the question, and the de- 

 sire to obtain some definite conclusions, that rewards have 

 been offered by quite a number of the learned bodies of the 

 Old World for a satisfactory essay on the subject. The pe- 

 culiarities in the natural history of the eel are well known, 

 and especially the fact that, while spending the greater part 

 of its life in fresh water, this is but a preliminary to its breed- 

 ing in the sea. The salmon, shad, ale wife, and other species, 

 as is well known, obtain their growth in the sea, and run up 

 into fresh water to spawn; precisely the reverse being the 

 case with the eel. The young swarm in the early spring in 

 the mouths of rivers, and are known to go upward as far 

 as the very head waters of these streams and their tributa- 

 ries, sometimes in such numbers as almost to clog the chan- 

 nel. The adventurous visitor to the Falls of Niasjara who 

 may essay the exciting feat of passing under the falls during 

 the summer months will have his attention called to the im- 

 mense number of young eels of a few inches in length writh- 

 ing about the slippery rocks along which he is passing. Un- 

 der ordinary circumstances these fish find little difiiculty in 

 ascending falls, by making their way through the interstices 

 of the rocks, or even by crawling out at night, if necessary, 

 and thus passing on to a higher level. This feat is impossi- 

 ble at Niagara, as shown by the absence of eels in the w^aters 

 of Lake Erie. The eels remain in fresh water probably for 

 a period of several years, or until they have reached a con- 

 siderable growth. They then commence their descent, and 

 are often taken in immense numbers in the fall of the year, 

 in baskets and other special contrivances for their capture. 

 When they get back to the sea, it is probable that they re- 

 main there. So much has been known of the general facts ; 

 but the precise nature of their reproduction has, as stated, 



